Monday, August 17, 2020

The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

Set in the universe of the first novel in the series, The Ghost Brigades features a new set of characters. Charles Boutin, a high-ranking scientist who studied the Colonial Union's soldiers, has faked his death and defected over to the side of an alien alliance against humanity. The Colonial Union decides to clone Boutin's body and consciousness from existing DNA and try to figure out what Boutin has done. If it works, they have the potential to thwart the alliance. If it doesn't, the new Boutin will be just another soldier in the Colonial Union's mysterious Ghost Brigades. The story follows Jared Dirac, Boutin's clone, through his service in the military and his final conflict between who he is and the precedent his predecessor has set for him.

I enjoyed this book a lot. However, extensive knowledge of the first book is needed to have a more complete idea of the story. The action was top-notch, and although the characters are kind of similar, they are also written very well. The dialogue is good and witty, and the main story was very interesting and fun to read. Readers of the previous novel would love this, and people who enjoy sci-fi/space opera type books would also enjoy it very much. I would definitely recommend this book to others.

Reviewed by NK, Grade 10

Montrose Library

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